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Monday, 29 August 2011

The last couple of days at BHM

As there's been some half decent weather over the bank holiday weekend, I thought I'd spend any 'free' time down at Black Hole Marsh to try and get some more wildlife shots. It's been much the same as usual; Dunlin, Greenshank, Little Egrets etc. The most interesting birds have been the two Ruff and two Little Stints.
Whilst I was there yesterday, I saw hundreds of gulls go up on the estuary, and I soon found out why! I heard the distinct calls of Pergrines: there were 3 of them! Two juvs were displaying some surprising behaviour, diving and hitting Little Egrets and gulls in the Black Hole Marsh reserve. A dead bird is now visible from the hide... not sure if this is related to the attack I saw though. Unfortunately I was on the path rather than in the island hide at the time so I couldn't get photos of the majority of the action. Really gutted! I did manage to get some lame shots as one of them was flying away...

Other bird of prey pics (from today) include:
Kestrel:

Sparrowhawk:
These are backlit but I did the best I could with these as I was shooting straight at the sun! The exposure compensation just about showed up enough pattern detail.

Others from BHM:

5 of the many Dunlin

Greenshank

Greenshank

Ruff, Ruff and Greenshank

Ruff

Little Stint

2 Little Stints

Snipe (only a brief appearance on sunday 28th)

Oystercatcher

And these Wheatear pics were taken by the path leading up to the hide at Seaton:

Now I'm looking forward to an Osprey (or two) staying... Fingers crossed we get one for a while again this year!

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About Me

I'm 26 and have had a keen interest in wildlife since before my teenage years. I love the thrill of rarity finding and have a great interest in my local area; particularly the River Coly & River Axe. Away from birding, I'm a Company Exec Director and also a Business Owner.